Theater Review / Night of the Living A great allegory about relationships

By Joanna Brady

Key West is a zombie-friendly kind of place. Don’t we host a bike ride for about 8,000 of them just before Fantasy Fest? Which makes this the right town for Night of the Living, now playing through March 3rd.

Not to be confused with Night of the Living Dead despite its title, this off-the- wall play takes place on 2 nights, an undetermined time apart, during a zombie pandemic in New York.

Don’t expect to see dead people walking around the set. The zombies are seen only through the eyes and descriptive referencing by the two actors in the play. Carolyn Cooper plays Mia, an intense mom, worried about her sick son, Henry (whom we never meet). Mia doesn’t feel appreciated and is toying with having an affair because her husband doesn’t provide her with enough emotional support. Julio Trinidad plays her husband Marshall who tries to show her he does love and appreciate her by getting tickets to a beach resort so they can get away for a few days to celebrate their anniversary. There is considerable bickering and divorce is mentioned, with the dramatic packing of a suitcase.

But the truth is, as the second part of the play introduces new threats from zombies, they need each other more than ever, and the play is not without humorous moments. Holed up as they are in an apocalyptic, claustrophobic world, Mia and Marshall are drawn closer to each other. As the zombie pandemic quietly infects the couple’s insular world, they rediscover each other and dream of fleeing and ‘starting over’. But the zombies are determined. Eventually, the couple is under attack by multiplying zombies just outside the building, threatening to take over the world, their city, their building, and their bodies. Their fear is pervasive throughout, creating a nervous tension that builds until the crescendo at the end.

The play, by Dave Lankford, was winner of the Best Overall Play at the New York International Fringe Festival. Jon Roads, a playwright and film director with an impressive string of works to his credit, has called it ‘an allegory for a relationship drama’. He directs the play with astute sensitivity to pace and emotions. Mia is played brilliantly by Carolyn Cooper, who recently starred in the sold-out run of Dancing Lessons at the Red Barn Theatre. New York actor Julio Trinidad is excellent as Marshall, particularly in the last scene, which is intense. You’ll have to see this to appreciate it!

Night of the Living is the first full-length play to be performed in the new Back Room performance space at Key West Theater, located at 512 Eaton St. in Old Town. The space is very small, but charmingly intimate. It even has its own bar. The play starts at 7:00 p.m. and runs about 70 minutes without intermission. Seating is limited, so call the box office at 305 (985-0433) or go to keywesttheater.com

(Joanna Brady is a Key West writer, author of the Key West historical novel of Key West, The Woman at the Light, published by St. Martin’s Press)

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